hoorah for the Summer!

Things are starting to get interesting on the allotment. Well it is for me and my plate.

Sunday was a good day for me. I didn’t have much to do as it had all been done previously.

Now here I must admit to ‘cheating’. In the morning we went out to get some plants from a nursery/farm shop called Sam Turners in Northallerton, and I bought a tray of celery seedlings. Well I have the space (just) and thought that as I’d never grown them before I’d give them a go. I put in 12 seedlings which turned out to be half the plugs, and have promised the rest to someone else on the allotment, well rather that than let them go to waste.

I did a spot of hoeing to keep the weeds down and some watering as up here in North Yorkshire it was baking hot.

The next thing to note was that I managed to pick a total of 7 strawberries! So I ate one on the way home (growers perks) and we had the remaining 6 on scones with clotted cream. Now what could be better on a lovely Sunday afternoon with a pot of tea and a gin and tonic ? Yum.

Having a look round we have nice rows of leeks, onions and beetroot…

And the courgettes are coming along. These are the round ones, and they are about gobstopper size at the moment. With lots of watering they’ll get bigger and bigger.

I cut a lettuce and made a note of what else was on the plot ready for Monday

So on Monday night I swung by the allotment to do a few bits and pieces and to raid the larder. I strimmed the grass to keep the path down (and did the path for the neighbouring plot as the owner Jack is partially sighted, I may have mentioned this before, sorry if I have).

The beer in the beer traps got changed, I reckon I’ve managed to reduce the slug population by about 150 or so so far. So the less the merrier as far as I am concerned.

At this point I collected some goodies for dinner. The allotment is starting to provide so we had mange tout, carrots, kale and broad beans (and a few more strawberries as well). So we had pork chops and lots of veg, and even better strawberries and cream for pudding.

So life is going well on the allotment, the weather seems to be alternating from baking hot and very wet, so I hope it’s doing the plot some good. the weeds seem to be under control.

But Wait !!! Disaster and calamity. I noted that a group of my carrots looked all wilted and floppy, despite the fact that there had been a good soak of rain, so I had a few up to check, and yes, they have carrot root fly. In each one I pulled up there was a number of small 3/4 cm white worm in them. So sadly I had to pull a lot up, not all though. That did not make me happy, and now I have planted the last of my carrot seeds a bit further down the plot. I’ll get some fleece to cover them. I’m not despirited, just a bit annoyed.

But I don’t want to end on a low point.

The raspberries have started to fruit and the strawberries are now producing a pound of strawbs a day !! That will do my 5 a day the world of good. Plus it makes me feel smug when I can take them to work as well.

Comments

Got a taste for strawberries and cream after reading your blog and found I have no cream left,the shops are shut,now thats a disaster M,K.Your allotments doing well,nice of you for sharing and helping your neighbours,our weather is pretty much the same here so its gardening indoors again today.lol........